BaBy Boomer Gen yer mompreneur professional woman immiGrant the Changing faces o f entr epreneurs The next 10 years will see the most diverse pool of entrepreneurs ever. Here are some portraits of the people who will be taking the plunge: Save the rocking chair for later: Nearing retirement, but still look- ing for the next adventure. Small nest egg, high expectations, long lifespan: Needs additional income to really live out that retirement dream. My turn: Having devoted career to someone else’s company, ready to build a business of one’s own. What this city/country/world really needs is…: Sees small business as a good way to follow a passion. D D D D Corporate career? Noooo way: Watched parents suffer through company mergers, downsizing. Haven’t been there. Don’t want to do that. Freelance forever: Sees contract- ing as a better alternative to a corporate career. Flexible is middle name: Having MySpaced, FaceBooked, and IMed, views social network as constantly in flux. Groomed since grade school…or at least high school: Entrepreneur- ship is being taught not only in college, but K-12. The lemonade stand is now a business case study. D D D D Juggling act: Mommy will be with you in a moment, sweetie, as soon as she closes this deal. Looking for other intellectual stimulation: Sees small business as a way to keep talents on simmer. Perfect candidate for a “personal business”: A one-mom, part-time shop. Online, in business: eBay, craigslist and other one-click links to the outside world make starting a personal business a snap. D D D D End of a stereotype: That “one- man business” down the street is headed by a woman. Climbing around the glass ceiling: Tired of old boy’s club, starts her own business. (When it succeeds, she tries not to smirk.) Don’t look now: Women college graduates now outnumber men. Can women entrepreneurs be far behind? Entrepreneurial skills already in place: High interpersonal IQ, no stranger to budgets, adept at bargaining, not distracted by video games. D D D D Bilingual, bicultural: Made-to- order in this global era. International contacts: Knows people here…and there. Taught in the USA: Many advanced degrees from American universi- ties are earned by people born elsewhere. Attuned to opportunity knocking: Understands – often better than the natives – that America is entrepreneurial heaven. D D D D